Sticky Pod Customers

Thanks for your product. We bought "The Director" and used it for the first time on our 4 minute short titled "Trading Faces." Go to maxcast/onewayproductions and click on Trading Faces. I have attached 3 jpegs for your viewing and use. We are using it again in a couple of weeks on another short. We produce sermon illustrations that sell all over the world on sermonspice.com. Your StickyPod added professionalism to our project, so again thank you. Also thank you for making your product of high quality so affordable for independent production companies. ** Click any pic to enlarge **
Keep up the good work, George Buttle One Way Productions Radiance Creative Communications Sacramento, CA (916) 681-1114

Hi Tom, I have received the order, and love the product. Attached is a flash format video of my sticky pod in action attached to my kayak going under water and rolling back up!! I have already referred a person to your product, Steve W. in Tacoma WA I believe has placed an order, or will shortly! Do I get a referral fee? Love your product, next i'll be testing it in the ocean surf!!! Jason P.S. we will be using your sticky pod to add to our collection of videos, and photo slide shows on WWW.XEXPLORE.COM, check us out! In a couple of days I'll have a blog write up on your product, viewed by many kayaks in the Pacific Northwest. Thanks, Jason Take a look at Jason's instructional video on rolling, click an icon below.       Jason has a very cool website and a host of very cool pictures and videos. Please click on the pic above to see a very cool photo of Jason, the Sticky Pod and one of the Pacific Northwest lighthouses.

Firefighters all over the country are outfitting their trucks and emergency vehicles with Sticky Pods. Fighting fires is a big liability to any city and without good videos and pics, you just don't have the protection you need. Imagine that a homeowner claims you could have saved their home, but the entire home was engulfed in flames when you rolled up on the scene, the video will speak for itself. Remember the Sticky Pod holds the camera for you, it never talks back and it always gets a solid and stable shot. The picture on the right was sent to us as an example of what a Sticky Pod can do for you. There's no argument about how big this fire is and how tough it will be to put it out. Talk to your chief or your purchasing department. Sticky Pods should be in every firetruck in the country. Thank you for the picture, it's a great example of the difficult and deadly conditions faced by firefighters every day. Click on the pic to enlarge.

Hey Tom, I thought I'd shoot you a few pics, and thank you for a great product. This was the first time out with the sticky pod, even though I think I bought it 6 months ago. Long story short--nobody could show up for some exterior pick up shots I'm doing for a "no-budget" short (maybe it was the 5:00 a.m. crew call) so I loaded up the sticky pod and drove up North to the beautiful (cold) Sierra county California, strapped the the pod on the car and went for it. It was the first time I even attempted putting it on the car. I figured it out in no time and I was off to the races. Got the shots I wanted and headed back home, and I didn't have to feed a bunch of crew--although I would have. Thanks again, I'm going to order a few more knuckles, I have a tendency to "misplace" certain important elements. Thanks, Brendan

Hi there! First off, I have attached a few photos from last week when we took our new diesel road-racing truck to the track. I mounted a camera with your Stickypod inside the cab as well as on the roof. Everyone on the crew was certain the suction cups would not hold, but they did. The truck did not hit its top speed, but it did go about 135 mph. I will send you some video footage from the track as well as soon as I can. I also have footage from when I mounted a camera on one of our trucks on a drag strip. I put the tailgate down, and mounted the camera upside down on the bottom side. Your Stickypod held on just fine. Patrick McKinley Banks Power Sticky Pod Comments: You don't have a truck this powerful! Here's the best testimony that a Sticky Pod truly works as we claim. Enough said!

Click any pic to enlarge

Click any pic to enlarge

Tom, I am shooting a lot of video clips and pictures in a auto/interval mode that way and reporting all this in my blog. The post with the recent movie from the Glenwood Canyon: Checkout Marek's blog "paddling with a camera" by clicking here. And, the example of pictures from interval mode shooting with a camera mounted on a kayak deck.

Regards,
Marek

I've been using the Stickypod in probably the way most people use them - stuck on the front and rear roof of my van, on the lower sides, even on the bonnet (sorry, hood - for you on the other side of the pond), looking back at the driver. I use a bog standard small JVC min-dv camcorder and the results have been really great. Most of my video work is kind of unconventional, so I recently took a job that involved shooting a kind of car journey through busy city streets - the result would be projected on a huge screen in a theatre, with a mock car, full of actors in front of it. So I did a few test shots. As usual, the Stickypod worked great - until I discovered that I can't use my van for the shot. One location has a barrier at two inches less than the van height.

Ok - plan B. Use my Suzuki Jimmi soft top 4WD. Remove Stickypod and remount onto the Suzuki. The first test footage showed the Suzuki has a major drawback - the first is that the suspension is incredibly hard and rigid, the second is the short wheelbase that exagerates every bump in the road. The shots, even on a small screen were very bumpy, on a large projected image - unusable. Close examination of what was happening was required. The major issue was the camera shaking from side to side. The Stickypod is rigid, movement right up to the top of the ball joint on the swivel is minimal. The snag is the camera. It has a plastic case, and the mount at the bottom, where it attaches to the swivel, is the problem. It flexes. Not much, but the distance from the hood to the camera is moving the base of the camera from left to right, quite forcibly. The camera flexes - not much, but enough to ruin the shots.

Plan C - I wondered if I could use any of my normal camcorders (full size DV and Betacam)? A lot heavier. On the Stickypod website, there's a great video of Tom hanging huge sports weights onto the side of a vehicle. So the mount can take the weight - however, hanging this weight via the ball joint is impossible - no way of locking it tight enough - it wasn't designed to do this. EVen if it could lock that tight, all the weight is on a tiny 1/4" thread. Not a sensible way to do the job.

I had a spare Manfrotto 501 head lying around, so I drilled a hole in the aluminium plate, between the two suction cups, this allows the head to pan properly. The results were very encouraging. The only snag was that I couldn't lock the tilt hard enough to stop the camera falling forwards on heavy braking. So I hit on the idea of using the original sticky pod mounting system in tandem. The rigidity is amazing now - the only downside is that I was lucky the angle matched - maybe Tom will make an adjustable version to allow the tilt to be changed - I'd certainly buy one. The additional mass and weight of the camera means the wobble is managed much better - the suction cups acting as kind of shock absorbers - with a lightweight camera they tend to stay quite still. The Suzuki is now quite usable as a camera platform. The only addition is that I use a couple of ratchet straps to the top handle of the camera as safeties - these also damp the lateral movement slightly - increasing the cornering video performance - the weight normally pulls the camera the opposite way to the turn - which looks good normally - for my needs I need the image to remain as flat as possible.

From my skiing excursions in the States, I've noticed all your automobiles have much softer suspensions than we do over here in the UK - we're slowly coming around to your way of doing things, but the Suzuki is just so poor, stability wise, my modifciation seems to do the job - and best of all, consists of just 1 hole in the Stickypod!

Click any pic above to enlarge

Paul Johnson
East Anglian Radio Services 2006
www.earsmedia.co.uk

Hi Tom, I want to thank you for all your advice and time on the phone (we talked for over 20 minutes).  As I explained, my neighbor kept urinating on my car handle and, needless to say, this perversion was disgusting and causing me great stress in my life.  Since I live in a very nice neighborhood, I couldn't believe this was happening to me.  Like I said, the boy next door was from an egyptian family that was very well off so he was very spoiled, but I still was not sure if he was the culprit.  Since, I couldn't figure out what to do and I wasn't sure who was doing it, all I had were my suspicions, but nothing to backup my claims.  When you suggested that I video tape my car from my 2nd story window with a Sticky Pod, that did the trick.  I placed the camera high on top of the glass and zoomed the camera in on the driver side of my car and caught my neighbor's son red handed.  (It was the egyptians next door.)  You could see his face and the video was so crystal clear, the police were able to take action immediately.  Since they had the video, it was easy for them to press charges (urinating in public) without me having to press charges.  Now my neighbors were so completely embarrased, they apologized and they leave me alone.  Since they know I can video tape them, they keep to themselves and they behave.  You suggested the Original for it's endurance and ability to work with many cameras, what a great buy!  I can't believe my problems are solved for only $79 bucks!  I tell everyone about the Sticky Pod and the problem I had.  Thank you again for inventing the Sticky Pod.

Ann W.
Stockton, CA

Ann later writes me an update...
I just wanted to let you know that my neighbors are moving.  Can't say I'm sorry to see them go.  Thanks again for your product and all the great advice and service.

Tom,
First I want to say I've really enjoyed using my StickyPod that I bought last year.  We're so pleased with the type of shots the Sticky Pod can pull off, we are going to do some product demos with it at the NOPI car show this coming September 16, 17 at our booth.
http://www.nopinationals.com/2k6/show_info.cfm

Our company, StreetFire.net is a free video sharing web site that allows car enthusiasts to upload videos they shoot of their cars.  So, at our booth, we are going to highlight some good filming techniques to help promote our service.

The reason I wanted to mention this to you, is that if you are in the Atlanta area and would like to come by our booth and participate with us, we would love to have you.  If you even would like to use the opportunity to sell some Sticky Pods, we wouldn't mind letting you use our booth space (so long as you wear one of our StreetFire.net T-Shirts!)

Anyhow, thanks again for a great product!

PS here is a mini-blurb I put up on our website earlier this month
http://www.streetfire.net/2006/08/camera-mounts-sticky-pod.aspx

(After the show, Ali writes...)
I have the Sticky Pod Dash Cam set up, and have used it 4 or 5 days a week for the past month since I received it. This past weekend was the most notable when I used it with the WRX Atlanta car club at the NOPI Nationals show at the Atlanta Motor Speedway.

I have to say a lot of people (45+ people) asked about the Pod and I got a lot of looks and comments regarding it.

I had my camera mounted on the roof of my Subaru and people just couldn't stop looking and pointing at it, at the show and on the drive to the speedway.  I was the only one at the show who had any sort of camera mounting device, and I suspect by the reactions people will have ordered some so they can have it for next years show, if not before.

I have gotten a comment almost everytime I have had the Pod on the hood or roof.

I wanted to thank you for the product. I took the liberty to give out the www.stickypod.com address to several people.

NOTE: I'd love to find out how to be a reseller of the product as well. I'd surely be at NOPI next year trying to get a booth set up.

Cheers,
Ali D
Atlanta, GA, USA
WRX Atlanta
2006 Subaru STI

Thank-you TOM!

I was very excited to try out your product after finding it online.  Similar products, consisting of one large suction cup are going for about $500 a pop and don't include any of the extras you provide.  I'll admit I was a little skeptical at first then after I watched your video... huh! nothing to it!  Then came test time.  I took my car out, cleaned everything, mounted the camera, started the car, and began to sweat bullets.  "What if it didn't work?" "What if this is a death sentence for my camera, I can't afford to buy another?"... but the adrenaline started to flow and I decided to take it for a whirl!  first out the parking lot, 10, 20, 35mph, sharp turns, then "Hey" I'm gonna miss that light, Vroom, screeeech, I made a sharp left at about 55mph and got on the main highway, 60, 70, 85mph... I got this sick feeling in my stomach that I lost the camera somewhere back there and pulled over. Quickly checking on the camera I gave it a little tug, then a big one, then leaned into it with most of my weight. nope not budging. Full confidence your product works 110%.  I thank you and my camera thanks you!

Brad - WeLuvMovies.com
Temecula, California

Hi Tom,

This Sticky Pod is the best friend to any automotive filmmaker.

We just finished our first scene in Canyon Racers with the Sticky Pod. Just so you know, I am refilming the other scenes with the Sticky Pod. Our shoot time went from 4 hours to 2 hours.

I will use this for every film we do. More orders are coming from us.
Steve H
Sacramento, California

I just got back from Italy. Video on skis is always tricky and you can't go too fast with a camera in hand - so I took my sticky pod. inside my jacket, down the front of my salopettes. worked a treat! the video is now on your server - emedia21

Paul J
Lowestoft, Suffolk - UK

Hey Tom,
I have recently purchased a Sticky Pod Pro, and I'm so impressed I was wondering if you were listed on any stock exchange. I am interested in buying stock in your company. Please let me know.

Thanks,
Paul W
Sydney, Nova Scotia

Hi Tom,

Well, I truly feel indebted to your team for giving us an opportunity to shoot mobile shots without any worries. I will admit, I had my doubts at first, but from the very first scene we shot using the Sticky Pod I was a firm believer in it and what it can do. Now when we read scripts for consideration; moving shots of characters in cars, boats, helicopters etc. are no longer a sticking point for whether or not we can produce the story. The Sticky Pod has given us the ability to do so much more then we could have prior to having owned it. Once we finish editing our current production "The Memorial Counselor," I'd love to post some of the shots the pod was used for on your gallery. While they may not appear to be anything spectacular, I can tell you with a strong degree of certainty, they would not have been anywhere near as good without the Sticky Pod.

I'll keep you posted about the progress of the film as we are hoping to get a distribution deal consisting of a wide release, which if it comes to fruition, you can bet your bottom dollar that I will be telling even more people about the Sticky Pod. Not only do I love to tell fellow Independent Film makers about it, urging them all to consider purchasing them for their productions, but I love to show it to people because it is truly a unique tool for individuals and organizations such as ours. So if we end up lucking out and actually get to hob nob with any "big league" distributors and/or media during our marketing blitz for this production, I'll let you know who I got a chance to talk to about "the pod." You all deserve a round of applause for creating such a great tool.

I appreciate your consideration of my comments and if any potential customers have any questions about my claims, please feel free to give them my contact information, as I said, I love "the pod," and look forward to using it as often as I can. If you don't mind, I'd be honored to put a link to your site on our website (www.hexi.com/LST), which isn't necessarily a traditional website, we use it mostly for information for cast and crew of our productions, but I know many independents in the Northwest visit it as well. Once we finish editing in about a month or so, we will be creating a new website specifically for the film that we hope will generate a lot of traffic for interest in our film and techniques used (such as "pod" filming). No biggie if there are any sort of issues related to this request, but I can't stress the fact enough that I am such a firm believer in your product and wish for every production company to own at least one, if not many. All I would need is your permission and/or a JPG of either your name or a picture of the Pod, or both, to put up on our site as a link. Take care.

Sincerely,

Patrick Sevigny
Long Strange Trip Productions, LLC
Salem, Oregon
www.hexi.com/LST

Just found your site - actually did a search on Yahoo for a monopod, and found the Sticky Pod. What a great item, I bought one for my son who is going to absolutely FLIP when he gets it for Christmas, you don't know how many videos he has shown me that actually make me motion sick from watching of him off-roading. Several times you can see/hear the camera hit the roof of the truck! I have a feeling many of his friends will want to get one when they see his! Congrats on a great product, hoping it is everything I witnessed on the videos that are on your site, and good job at search engine placement. Having never heard of it, I am glad it came up with my search for a different item!

Elizabeth
Southern CA

Just wanted to say that you have a great product. I was able to drive around an entire Friday night with it looking down the length of my car for some great shots. I also wanted to congratulate you on being featured as a great geek buy in MaximumPC. That is awesome.

Wayne Adams